Happy first day of Spring! The sun has been shining, the weather has been in the 50's (and sometimes 60's!), the grass is getting greener, and flowers are starting to arrive. Ahhhh yes, SPRING!
I've got to tell you, I have mixed feelings about Spring. While I'm glad it's no longer winter (ugh!) and I'm enjoying the warm up in weather and beautiful spring-like scenery, I loathe the allergy headache it brings me. Literally.
I never had an allergy issue until a few years ago. Now I'm lucky if I don't wake up with gunky eyes and a sore, scratchy throat. Or a sinus pressure headache. I'll also have random fevers. I had one last week all day Tuesday and this past Monday night into Tuesday. Weird. And definitely not fun. Go away, allergies.
With Spring comes fun happenings in our life, like Spring Break for the kiddos. Easter, which the kids really dig. And our 9th wedding anniversary....which also happens to fall on Easter this year. The start of the Goldendale Farmers Market, which we are busy busting our butts to get ready for. And then there's Mother's Day, and Tim's 3rd birthday! Yikes, I'm not quite sure how he's turning three already, but maybe if I don't think about it, it won't happen. Right?
Good riddance, Winter.
With love,
Mama Hauck
Change. It's time to talk about our great year of change again!
Not only are we doing our best to eat better in our home....less junk, less sugar, less processed, more whole, more organic, healthier foods.....but we are also on a homemade beauty product adventure!
I've spent a lot of time researching essential oils (I even went to a fun class with some friends!) and different products with more natural, healthier ingredients that Sam and I can make at home. There's something to be said for knowing exactly what you are putting in and on your body. And in my mind, if I can make something myself (that actually works!) or go about things in a way that is more natural and overall better for our bodies, then why not? I have the time (well....kind of, lol), the desire, and I'm up for the challenge of finding and creating something that works for us.
It has taken a bit of time and money to get going. Finding a reliable source for my ingredients was really important and I didn't necessarily go with the cheapest option. You don't want to when you're purchasing what's needed to go on your body. I worked hard to save the money for what I needed by doing some Goldendale Country Bumpkin custom orders over the past few months and, little by little, I was able to acquire what I needed to make a large amount of homemade beauty products of all sorts! Exciting!
Up first? Homemade lotion bars! If you are interested in taking a look at the recipe, head on over to wellnessmama.com. I've come to love her blog and have found it, along with a handful of others, quite useful in my search for do-able homemade recipes and information.
I love our lotions bars. They were easy to make and turned out awesome. We used cocoa butter in ours and they smell heavenly! I'm glad I chose not to put any essential oils in the lotion bars because they smell so good on their own. Though I'm not opposed to experimenting and trying different variations.
I use the lotion bar all over, except for my face. I'm unsure about it's pore-clogging abilities, so I choose to not use it on my face since I break out very easily. Your body heat "melts" the lotion, and a little goes a long way for sure. I have found that with continued use, and in conjunction with a homemade body scrub I've made and will share later on, that I no longer have an issue with those annoying little red bumps I get on my upper arms. Awesome! I also use the lotion on the kids. Molly gets really dry skin on her hands, and this helps that greatly. Each time I use it on her she exclaims, "Ahhh! I love that smell!"
If you decide to try to make your own lotion bars, let me know how it works out for you. So far I'm impressed and we are about ready to make our second batch. I think it would be fun to search around for another lotion bar recipe so we have options, but for now, this one is a keeper.
With love,
Mama Hauck
Well, we've done it!! I mean.....Sam's done it. I didn't put in the physical work, only the verbal input. Haha!
Our kitchen table is finally complete, and I couldn't be more happy and excited! Isn't it just beautiful!? Ohhhh I LOVE it!!
We do still need to complete the bench that will replace the two chairs on the one side of the table, Sam's currently working on that. And we kept the base of our old table, maybe in the future we'll build a new base, but for now it works. I couldn't be more pleased with how the table turned out. Thanks, Lover! Always the handy man for me.
Now we have a new space where we can eat our meals together and talk about our lovely days. Or in reality.....listen to how Molly doesn't want to eat her asparagus because it's gross, Tim wants more ketchup (his third time asking!) to dunk his burger in and then lick off, and Anthony wanted ranch for his carrot sticks, not peanut butter! Well, you know, no matter what goes down at the kitchen table, the family is together in one spot and that's what matters. :)
With love,
Mama Hauck
